Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was known affectionately as Ike. He is probably the last good Republican President. But then again, we hardly know anything '''about Gerald R. Ford. His face was featured on the obverse of the US $1 Dollar coin from 1971-1978. World War II Eisenhower was a military commander who helped decisively to defeat Hitler. After Pearl Harbor was bombed Eisenhower became a 5-Star General and was in charge of the overall campaign in Europe. Eisenhower was in overall command of the allied invasion of North Africa, he commanded the allied invasion of Mussolini’s Italy and the D-Day invasion of France. Presidency In January 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower became president and served two terms as a Republican. The GOP wasn’t as strongly Conservative then as it became later. Eisenhower didn’t want to further increase the government's economic role, but he didn't want to scale it back either. He was at least partly Liberal as he increased the minimum wage and improved social security. Eisenhower worked behind the scenes to weaken McCarthyism but didn’t speak out against it till they tried to purge army commanders in 1954. His politics would be generally comparable to that of a moderate liberal today. Eisenhower tried to contain Communism in South East Asia. He acted to end racial segregation in the South but has been criticized for not showing more leadership over that. Biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower Biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower Term limited by the 22nd Amendment, Eisenhower's Vice President Richard Nixon ran for the Presidency. Eisenhower stuck to being president until the last few weeks before the election. In October 1960, Nixon saw that he would eventually lose to Democrat candidate Senator John F. Kennedy and asked Eisenhower to campaign with him. Eisenhower did, but Kennedy still won. Last speech Dwight D. Eisenhower’s last presidential speech was the most controversial one. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence - economic, political, even spiritual - is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. '''In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. (Emphasys ours) Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 This from a former military general who understood the military is highly significant. References useful as External links Category:Military Category:US Presidential candidates Category:American Presidents Category:Republican Party Category:Anti-communists Category:Anti-Fascism Category:Pro-Civil Rights Category:Ok people Category:Presidents